Madness
by B.W.T
Summary: She is lost in the very world she was born into, even the is air wrong, burning at her throat with each breath she takes, leaving behind a foul taste on her tongue. Still though, she fights, even as the madness grows. T for Safety


**This is a concept I'd been thinking of for awhile, but the story itself didn't come into being till I read 'The Birds' by Daphne du Maurier, and took the mood from that and used it to shape this.**

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She was mad, trapped in a world that didn't fit anymore. Every breath she drew into her lungs was like fire, the air carrying so many poisons – so many toxins, the taste of them was left on her tongue, refusing to go away. She walked down the street of some city, the name forgotten to her, listening to all the noises, the cars, the people, and fighting coughs that threatened to throw her organs onto the pavement. How long had it been like this? Her green eyes danced from one object to another, her stance curled, ready to fight, every muscle in her body tensed. What had changed?

The cloth of her jeans caught on her shoe with her next step, ripping the fabric further, so that the tear – one that'd been growing for weeks – ran almost to her knee. She glanced down at it, barely registering what'd happened, her arms were wrapped around her – something was missing. Something was gone. Then she felt it, the faintest tickle against her skin, calming the ache in her chest as she spun in the direction it came from. Her eyes caught sight of a man stepping out from a shop, nothing to really give him away but the slight glow to him, like he carried something special.

_Magic_. Her mind whispered, and she moved closer to him, but the ache only dulled a little more – his magic was too weak, too tame, too _young_. She needed something stronger, something ancient… something wild.

A car horn honked and she spun again, realizing she was in the center of the street and hurrying across to the other side, the man forgotten. Stumbling into an alleyway she slipped and fell into the mud, her stomach growling, but food was useless – it tasted of ash, burning away on her tongue. Furtively, she held her hands to her ears, covering the sharp points of them in an attempt to stop the noise, trying to make the world go away. Why wouldn't it stop? So noisy, so horrible, it held no beauty…

Chapped lips parted, as if prepared to speak, but no noise came out. She wanted, needed, to call for help, but her pride still won through. Besides, he would catch her, cage her, lock her away like some possession. The terror of this world was better then some golden cage in another.

Unknowingly, she started to rock back and forth, hands clamped over her ears and eyes tightly shut. Ignoring the clawing at her mind, the knowledge that'd been poured into it only too eager to break free and tell her how to hunt, to kill, how to use the power it'd placed in her veins. "Mustn't, mustn't." A cracked voice tore from her throat, barely above a whisper and yet so harsh, sounding far older than she looked. "Mustn't, mustn't." She chanted again, snippets of poems and books running through her head, of goblin fruit and golden hair. She'd broken the rules, a single bite, that was all it took – was this her punishment? Driven to insanity, her own world turned against her. "Mustn't, mustn't." She whispered yet again, rocking back and forth faster with each breath.

A crash of thunder rolled above her, and from the mouth of the alley way a voice called out "Are you alright? Here now, what's wrong?" The man she'd noticed coming out of the shop strolling down, his features twisted with something like concern. "What's a creature like you doing in a place like this?" He asked, looking at the tattered clothing of the Fae before him, watching her wild eyes turn up to stare at him. She looked lost, her hands clamped over her ears. Being a studier of the species he could tell from her face she must once have been human, the knowledge catching him by surprise, mortal-to-Fae's were rare, it took a good deal of magic and usually drove the mortal mad, as it seemed to have with this one. Still, best offer a bit of help.

"Come on, let's get you away from the storm." He cooed, bending down and opening his arms, watching her eyes as they flitted about him, wide and uncertain. She certainly was a mess, her dark hair full of knots and mud, her skin also covered in dirt and scratches, and the clothing she wore little more then threads. "Mustn't, mustn't." She whispered suddenly, catching him by surprise, returning to her rocking, ignoring him.

Now kneeling, he shifted closer slightly, but stopped when she tensed. "Mustn't what, little one?" He whispered, watching her freeze again and turn her wide eyes to him. After a long moment she replied, "Mustn't call." She shifted away then, further from him, her movements jerky as if she weren't used to herself. It started to rain then, great big drops that soaked through the thin fabric of her clothes in moments. She didn't seem to notice though, turning her eyes to the sky before suddenly giving a shriek and covering herself with her arms, as if burnt. "The rain!" She cried, mournful, "It burns! Poison! Poison!" The man beside her glanced towards the sky, remembering that pollution was far less kind to those such as her, and quickly removing his coat, wrapping it around her to shield her while he stood, lifting her with him, and hurrying her away. She did not stop him this time, instead huddling against him to try and escape the burning droplets.

Down the street a ways was his car, which he shepherded her into, putting her into the passenger's side before taking the driver's, starting the car and pulling away from the curb.

After some moments in the car she seemed to have quieted, though she refuse to put on a seatbelt, instead sitting with her knees drawn to her chest. Every once in awhile she would jump, her neck jerking in another direction, trying to see something invisible to his eyes. To try and distract her he started speaking, hoping that perhaps she would focus on that instead of whatever tormented her.

"My name is Nicholas, what are you called?" She offered no reply, so he pressed on, "I study your kind, you know." That caught her attention and she turned wide eyes to him, her lips pressed together. "No, don't worry, I won't hurt you." He spoke quickly, but she didn't relax, "Actually, I'll try to help you. We're going to my house right now, actually, it's further from the city, closer to the seaside. Better air there, you see, less pollution." At that he got a nod, and calmed slightly, he had been worried she might get angry. "Maybe if you tell me what happened to you I can help, maybe we can find a way to-" He stopped, what she'd said back in the alley coming back to him, _'mustn't call'_. Mustn't call whom? He wondered now, did she mean whoever changed her? "Hun, back in the alley, you said you mustn't call, who'd you mean?" He asked cautiously, casting his eyes from the road to her and back again. She shook her head in reply, turning her gaze from him to the window. "Were you human, before?" He asked suddenly, wanting to confirm what he already knew. The nod he received was expected, but he still frowned. "It takes a lot of power to change a human, you know, someone must have had a very good reason…" He left it open ended, futilely hoping she might fill in the gap, but of course she disappointed him, keeping her lips pressed together.

The view out the window was uninteresting, the rain still falling hard against everything. She'd started to ignore the man now, his magic calming her enough that she felt like she could almost relax, if it weren't for the car she was in. She could smell the engine, the exhaust, and as always the taste of it stayed on her tongue, while the rest stung her eyes, making her blink more often then she needed to. The man shifted the gear suddenly as they started to climb a hill and she jumped, startling him and herself, although he kept control of the car. In her head, a voice whispered against him, warning her, begging her to go – he was mortal, yet he carried magic. Dangerous, get away, mustn't trust. The voice was driving her mad, further past where she already was. She wanted to scream for it to stop now, as it got louder and louder, the further along the hill they got. The voice persisted though, tearing into the moment of sanctuary she'd had, sending shocks up her spine. With sudden agility, she flung open the door of the car and sprang from it, rolling a ways off the road before scrambling up and sprinting away, leaving Nicholas standing by the car calling for her, his voice quickly fading, the wind carrying it away as thunder rolled.

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**There will probably be a second chapter for this coming eventually, where everything gets properly sorted and Sarah - yes, it is Sarah - doesn't get left running about the countryside. **


End file.
